ONTARIO >> UPS has unveiled plans to add 500 jobs, growing its operations at LA/Ontario International Airport over the next five years in a bid to keep up with the growth in e-commerce.

Atlanta-based UPS will expand its existing building at ONT by 15 percent to nearly 900,000 square feet, the cargo carrier announced last week.

In 2015, UPS completed construction on a 416,000-square-foot air facility, which handles urgent, next-day packages and features automated sorting capabilities.

“These investments in UPS’s air and ground network illustrate UPS’s commitment to customers in the Inland Empire and abroad, and are part of an ongoing, network-wide investment the company continues to make in hub expansion and automation,” George Willis, president of UPS’s West Region said in a statement.

Officials said the expansion at the ground sorting facility will be retrofitted with new sorting systems that will double the package processing capacity. The ground sorting facility will handle packages sent from and destined to the Inland Empire.

Several retail chains have acquired warehouse space in nearby cities to meet e-commerce projections, said David Bonner, southwest gateway manager for UPS at an event earlier this month.

“You have businesses looking for warehouse space closer to the airport,” he said.

Among those businesses is QVC which is building its first West Coast distribution center on the Meredith property between Vineyard and Archibald avenues. QVC officials have said the proximity to Ontario International Airport and the UPS and FedEx distribution hubs was a key factor in ultimately selecting the location as its future center.

“Air cargo was the only segment that never took a hit during the economy, air cargo services remained steady,” Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner said.

The UPS Ontario facility employs 4,500. Officials expect to add 500 jobs to keep up with the growth. The first wave of hiring — for delivery drivers and part-time package handlers — is expected to occur in 2018, officials said.

“UPS is positioned well at Ontario and the future looks bright with our new hub expansion. That’s going to give us greater leverage, the ability to drive volume is going to be crucial,” Bonner said.

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